A Shakespeare grammar (Part 1)

This thesis is the first; part: of a comprehensive grammar of the language of Shakespeare. It deals with the noun, the adjective, the articles, numerals, the verb, and congruence between subject and predicate. The method employed is basically traditional and historical, and normally only Shakespeare is considered, but occasionally comparisons are made with earlier and with later usage. A division has not been made between accidence and syntax, though both are examined. All examples from Shakespeare are quoted from the Polio or Quarto texts. Usually more examples are given of a rare construction than of a common one, and sometimes all known instances are cited. A very few examples are given from Shakespeare s contemporaries where it is felt that these are helpful. The work takes as its basis Wilhelm Franz's Die Sprache Shakespeares in Vers und Prosa (Halle, 1939), which is in fact a fourth edition of his Shakespeare-Grammatik (1898-1900, 1909, 1924); but frequent references are made to other grammatical works that confirm, amplify, or- correct the statements made there